Both Watertown hockey teams advance in MIAA tournaments

Two up, two down.

After making quick work of Dracut in its opening-round game, the Watertown High boys’ hockey team dominated from the first drop of the puck in a 4-1 win over second-seeded Northeast Regional on Friday at the Chelmsford Forum in Billerica.

The girls’ hockey team had a tougher time Saturday before advancing with a 2-1 win over Andover at John A. Ryan Arena in Watertown.

The seventh-seeded WHS boys (12-3-7) will return to the Chelmsford Forum on Tuesday, March 3, for the Division 3 North semifinal against No. 6 Wayland (14-5-3). Puck drop is 5:10 p.m.

The fourth-seeded Watertown/Belmont girls’ team (19-3-1) will play its Division 1 state quarterfinal game Wednesday, March 4, against No. 5 Austin Prep (16-3-2). The game at Woburn will start at 6 p.m.

In the boys’ win over Northeast Regional, junior Tyler Gardiner continued his hot streak, scoring two goals and adding an assist, and junior Michael Giordano and freshman Timmy Connors had a goal apiece to help the lift the Raiders to the big 4-1 victory.

“I think we played well tonight,” said Gardiner. “We had offense from all three lines, and the defense played a strong, solid game both offensively and in our own end. They carried the puck up ice and got a handful of shots on net, which really helped offensive pressure.”

It was a dominant first period for the Raiders, outshooting their opponents, 9-3. Gardiner very nearly pulled the locals in front with four minutes left in the opening period, but his shot, from an excellent pass from Giordano, clanked off the post and stayed out. Gardiner wouldn’t pass up his next chance, however, burying a rebound with 42 seconds left to put the Raiders up, 1-0, at the end of the first period.

Gardiner played provider on the second goal, picking up the assist when Giordano went five-hole on Northeast goaltender Anthony Giuliano, doubling the lead four minutes into the second frame. The Raiders took less than two minutes to find the net a third time, when Connors scored his first of the postseason from Nick Martino’s assist.

Senior goaltender Anthony Busconi was lights out as usual in net, making 11 saves on the 12 shots he faced.

“Tony played great as always,” said Gardiner of his goalie. “The kid’s the best goaltender in the Middlesex League and he certainly lives up to that every game.”

Northeast (16-5-0) got its lone goal from sophomore Chris Straccia in the game’s final minutes. As chants of “Warm the buses!” rained from the Watertown fan section, and Raiders senior defenseman Nick Giordano sat in the box after putting a huge hit on Nick Salgado, Straccia managed to slip one past a screened Busconi to give Northeast life with under three minutes to go.

The Knights pulled Giuliano in a last-ditch attempt to get back in the game, but their efforts were futile, as Gardiner jumped on a loose puck in the neutral zone and scored the empty-netter to seal the 4-1 victory.

Two goals on the night gives Gardiner three goals this postseason and a total of nine goals in his last five games. The junior winger is full of confidence at just the right time, but is quick to divvy up the credit.

“It’s not just me out there, it’s me linemates, too,” he said. “Pooly and Gio [linemates Tyler Poulin and Michael Giordano] work the puck down low and they just happen to find me. Even if it’s me making the passes, it’s Pooly and Gio finishing, so that whole line does a lot out there.”

The big win sends the Raiders to the Division 3 North semifinals where they will play their biggest game of the year against Wayland. The Warriors are all too familiar to the Raiders as this game is a rematch of last season’s North semis in which the Raiders fell in a heartbreaking 1-0 OT loss.

“Personally, after missing the breakaway in overtime and losing last year, it raises the stakes a little bit, and I’d like to go out there and get a little revenge on Wayland,” said Gardiner, “but it’ll be a good game. They’re a highly skilled team, they just beat Lowell Catholic [5-3] and they pumped Boston Latin Academy [9-0] earlier in the week ,so it’ll be a good test for our whole team.”

–March 2, 2015–